


Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?

by princess_smudge



Category: Sea Patrol (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Memory loss trope, Romance, mushy stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-22
Updated: 2019-04-22
Packaged: 2020-01-23 22:15:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,260
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18558946
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/princess_smudge/pseuds/princess_smudge





	1. Chapter 1

She feels his presence before she's even fully registered who  _he_ is. At that moment, she finds she doesn't much care  _who_ is in her bed next to her, only that there shouldn't be anyone. After all, she'd gone to bed alone, and now there was a hand around her waist and a soft breathing beside her.

She scrambles, trying desperately to put some distance between her and her intruder, thinking only of putting as much distance between them that she can. "Too early, Katie." He mumbles, a strong hand pulling her back towards the bed. "Sleep."

He pulls tighter against her attempts to escape, knowing only pure terror until-

"Shit! Kate!" He pulls back, one hand clutching at his ribs while the other peers incredulously at her. "What was that for?"

"Dutchy? What are you doing in my bed?!" Their frantic cries rise over each other, Kate backing away while he disentangles himself from her sheets.

"Kate, are you okay?" Dutchy stands, and Kate finds herself avoiding staring at his chest.

"No!" Kate takes another step backwards and feels her back hit the wall. "I just woke up to find my bosun in my bed! I am  _not_ okay."

Dutchy's brow furrows, and he takes a step closer, one hand outstretched as though intending to hug her. She recoils, flattening herself against the wall. "Kate, I haven't been your bosun for five years."

She shakes her head, fumbling blindly for a t-shirt and pulling it over her singlet, hoping to fight some of the vulnerability and exposure she's feeling. "You just started, Dutchy. What are you doing here? Seriously, if this is some prank you're playing with 2Dads-"

"Funny. I was going to say the same thing to you." He peers at her curiously. "So… you don't remember…"

"Remember  _what_?! I think I'd remember asking you to move in with me!" Some of the fear is leaving her now, to be filled only with anger. How dare he invade the sanctity of her home, her bed and- if he'd taken advantage of her...

Unconsciously, her hands rise to wrap around her torso, nearly hugging herself. Dutchy moves to take another step closer, but at the last minute seems to think better of that decision, holding up his hands in some parody of surrender. "You don't remember... Henry?" Dutchy finishes tentatively.

"Who's Henry? Dutchy, what the hell is going on? You need to leave! Now! You need to-"

Dutchy hesitates for a moment, then asks, "What's the date today?"

"What?" She shakes her head at the absurd question. "What the hell-"

"Humour me. Kate, what's the date?"

"29th April."

His face is impassive. "And the year?"

"2010. Seriously, Dutchy. I-  _what!?"_

"Kate…" He takes a deep breath, and she can't bear to see the look of fear and confusion mirrored on his own face. "That was almost nine years ago."


	2. Chapter 2

"No! No!" Kate's refusal comes out as a laugh, because this whole thing has to be a joke. There's nothing else it can be, no conceivable way Dutchy Mulholland is in her house and is telling her the truth. "No. You're telling me I've just forgotten nine years of my life? That's... insane." Kate rakes a hand through her hair. "I know who I am."

Dutchy takes a deep breath, tugging a t-shirt over his own chest. Kate tries not to dwell on just how familiar he seems to be with her wardrobe, or the fact that he has his own clothes in there. "Look, maybe we should go to the doctors. Or... the hospital or-" He bites his lip. "Kate, I'm telling you the truth. We should... go to a doctor! I don't want to see you hurt any more."

"Now I know you're kidding." She lets out a dry laugh. "Dutchy, you hate me! The last thing I remember is you pushing me and me getting a black eye after Clarkson and... and... no! I refuse to believe this... it's crazy-"

"You have a tattoo of an anchor on your right hip." Dutchy says, almost as though he can't think of anything else to say.

"What?" Kate frowns.

"You... you got it on your eighteenth birthday. It's only small... about the size of a ten cent piece. You've never told anyone about it. But... it's there, Kate."

Kate throws up her hands, loathe to admit that the story is accurate. "I... so... what? You've somehow seen my hip and-" If she's being honest, she knows deep down there's no real reason why he would have ever seen her hip unless...

"You... you told me about your brother." Dutchy swallows. "You... you told me about Isaac. About what happened to him." He peers closer at Kate. "I'm not making any of this up, Kate. It's 2019."

Kate shakes her head, feeling herself growing more and more hysterical. "No! No!" She feels herself slide down the wall, arms hugging herself once more. "No! You can't tell me this. You... you don't know me!"

"Kate-"

"Get out!" She jabs a hand at the door. "Get out, Dutchy! Get out!" She doesn't know exactly where she's going to send him, only that she wants him gone,  _needs_ him gone. She can't believe that she's told him about Isaac. Can't believe that he'd use it to try and prove his love for her when-

Why couldn't she have forgotten  _that_ instead?

And just as the day seems it can't get any crazier, a boy bursts through the door, closely followed by a Labrador of all things. "Mum?" The boy frowns, peering down at Kate in confusion. "I... I heard shouting."

For a full ten seconds, Kate feels herself freeze, staring at this boy, this boy that can't be hers because she'd remember having a child, wouldn't she?

"Henry..." Dutchy begins, taking a step closer. "I... Mum's not feeling the best. If you go get your school uniform on, I'll drop you to school."

"Is... is she okay?"

"She will be." Dutchy assures him. "I... she'll be okay."

o0o

"Head trauma?" The doctor frowns. "Any recreational drugs?"

"No!" Dutchy resumes his pacing. "It's like I told you. She came back from patrol yesterday, was completely normal, and then this morning she thought it was 2010! She doesn't remember anything from the last nine years!"

"Mr Mulholland, I need her to answer-"

"Well, it's a bit frigging hard when she doesn't remember, isn't it?!" Dutchy snarls. "Look, she doesn't take drugs. It's hard enough getting her to take a panadol when she has a headache. Something is wrong!"

"Sir, you're going to have to restrain yourself or-"

Dutchy immediately calms, dragging a hand over his shoulder in an apparent attempt to comfort himself. "Yeah, okay. Sorry. I'm just... sorry."

"Mr Mulholland, we're going to run some tests on your fiancee, and hopefully we'll know a bit more."

Dutchy looks to Kate, but she turns her face away.

"It's going to be okay, Kate." He whispers, more to himself than to her. "It's going to be alright."

"Fiancee?" Kate repeats, so softly he barely catches the word at all. "We're... engaged?"

And as she gazes up at him, she sees the same sadness reflected in his eyes. "Your ring is on your dog tags." He says, almost like it's an apology.

o0o

"I know this is... weird." Dutchy begins, as she rests her head against the passenger window, staring out at the streets that are so familiar and yet, so new. Houses and apartment complexes have sprung up like weeds, favourite restaurants have disappeared, and that house she'd always coveted on the corner of the main road is now a medical centre.

"Weird is putting it mildly." Kate admits, not looking up.

"Well... I really don't think you should be on your own. Even if... you want me gone. I can call someone to be with you."

"Henry." Kate begins, and the name seems to stick in her throat like glue. "How can I not remember I have a son? What kind of parent could forget her child?" She turns to face him, seeking comfort from the man she'd woken up to... had it only been this morning? She doesn't trust her brain with time anymore.

"We're going to figure this out." He leans over, and it seems as though he's intending to grab her hand. But at the last minute, he pulls back. "Kate, it's going to be okay."

"Nothing feels okay, Dutchy." She exhales. "Not a damn thing."

"You know..." Dutchy licks his lips. "For the record, I never hated you. Never."

o0o

"So that's what's happening." Dutchy concludes, trying to put on an encouraging smile, if only for Henry's sake. "Mum is having a few problems with her memory. She's been to the doctor, and at this stage, they... don't quite know what's going on."

"But... she'll get her memories back, right?" Henry is turned to Dutchy, eyes wide and imploring. Kate can't bring herself to speak, can't tear her eyes away from him, her boy. But there's nothing of Dutchy in his face.

_Who's his father?_

The thought bubbles up in her brain, and she feels like crying. There are so many memories gone.

"I... yeah, Henry. We're pretty sure she will." Dutchy's putting on a brave face. Would he have done that before?

_" **You just pushed me out of the way on that boarding and I want to know why!"**_

"What about the wedding?" Henry frowns, dragging Kate back to earth. "You were supposed to be getting married in three months."

Dutchy glances at Kate, but she can't bring it in herself to answer. Memories of what feels like weeks ago - years,  _years_ \- are drowning her.

_**"It didn't happen. You caused it."** _

"I... that will probably go on hold for now."

"That's stupid." Henry aims a soft kick at the bottom of the lounge. "You... you don't love her now her memory is all screwed?"

"Of course I love her." Dutchy swallows hard at the admission, and Kate ducks her head. The three words she'd been waiting for Mike to say, and Dutchy had said them barely three weeks after she'd met him. But then again, it hadn't been three weeks, had it? It had been nine years. "It's just... we want her to get better first."

"But... but why can't you do that and still get married?"

"Because... Henry, I know it's hard to explain. But... Kate doesn't remember us being together. It'd be like her suddenly marrying a complete stranger." He's patient. He's trying.

Henry shrugs, and  _he's her kid,_ he shouldn't be dealing with this. "You'll get married in the end." He murmurs, with every bit as much stubbornness as Kate would have expected her kid to have.

"Uh..." Dutchy hesitates. "Well... maybe-"

"No, you will." Henry affirms. "It's... like every great love story ever. You'll get together."

o0o

"So... Henry." The conversation is beyond awkward and yet, this whole day has been too. "He's... what... seven. But you said that we've been together for five. So..."

"He's not mine." Dutchy finishes the thought for her. "At least not biologically." There's something in the painful way he admits that to her. Even through her own self-absorbsion at the ridiculous situation she'd found herself in, she's seen the way Dutchy is with Henry.

"Mike?" Kate frowns. She hopes she doesn't have to start listing her ex-lovers, but once again Dutchy has the answer ready for her.

"No. Jim. Jim Roth." The name is the last she expects to hear.

"I haven't seen Jim Roth since 2008-" She replies automatically, then realises just how stupid a statement that is. "So... uh, he came back?"

"He came back." Dutchy confirms. "Ah... 2011? And you two... got together."

"And then we split up?" Kate frowns. After all, Jim had seemed like the perfect guy. The house and the dog and the 2.5 kids. Had she broken his heart again?

"No. He... he died. Him and Swain. There was an accident and..." He clears his throat. "Henry's full name is Henry James Christopher Roth." It's odd. After all, the shock at finding out both Jim and Swain are gone send her recoiling back, but some distant part of her brain knows she's already grieved. She swipes angrily at her eyes, impatiently wiping away tears.

"So anything else I should know? I'm not going to wake up tomorrow and have you tell me I'm pregnant? I'm not going to discover I've been RNIN'd or... or I'm growing dope out in the backyard?" She shakes her head. "I'm not an axe murderer? We don't... harvest organs or-"

"Kate, I... I'm trying." Dutchy whispers softly.

"I know!" Kate drags a hand over her head. "I know, Dutchy. But... I went to bed knowing that you hated me and... and I wanted you off  _Hammersley_ too. And now... what happened?"

"Kate, I... I don't know how much I should be telling you." He drums his fingers on the lounge. "I just want to... to show you pictures until everything clicks. But... iI think this is happened because you need to figure it out yourself."

"But you  _know!_ You know more about my life than I do, Dutchy! I... I've got a kid out there calling me Mum and... and I don't know him. I don't remember him!"

"I'll help you remember." He murmurs, and this time he doesn't shy away, his fingers brushing against hers. The movement is so quick it might never have happened at all, but Kate finds it comforting. "Kate,  _we'll_ help you."


End file.
